All you need to do is press zero/camera key 4 times to get to the SOS screen. I wish there was a user option to disable this feature, as I have called 911 twice with the phone in a hard case.

000 is one of the emergency numbers supported by GSM phones.

That said it takes 5 presses total, as you still have to press the YES softkey.
And, all 5 presses have to be within the timeout (screen goes black again)
That's ~5 seconds on my phone. Any more than 5 seconds between presses and it starts all over.

01-09-2013, 01:07 PM

ST Dog

Quote:

Originally Posted by JIM3997

I don't have my S390g anymore, so maybe someone can try this: If you lock the keyboard while the phone is on any screen other than the Home screen, will that keep this SOS "feature" from working? Since you have to be on the Home Screen to call a number using the keypad, maybe this feature only works from the Home screen, too.

You can't manually lock the phone except on the home screen.
It will auto lock though. However, the emergency dial function works in that case (I just tested it).

I think the detection is in the unlock software routine.
The first press always wakes up the phone.
Next it looks for the unlock softkey, if not, display the message about how to unlock. If button was the first of one of the emergency numbers remember it.
next press, if not unlock, continue to display message. If button was next digit in emergency number remember that, if not is it the first digit of one and remember which.

Once it get the three digits, it displays the SOS message.

But if you press 009, no SOS. if you press 00911 you get the SOS screen after the second 1.

01-09-2013, 01:17 PM

tfusr19

If you alternate between pressing 0 and any of the four soft keys in the Send ... End/Pwr row, that will get it in SOS mode too.

Of course pressing the End/Pwr button or the key to the left of End/Pwr once it's at the SOS prompt will respond no to that prompt, but pressing either of the other two soft keys will launch the SOS.

I tried this in Airplane mode, and the phone comes out of Airplane mode to send the SOS.

UPDATE:
This is nuts .....

if you press any sequence of keys other than A-Z, after you've pressed a 0 for the third time (even though your pressed any non-A-Z keys multiple times in betwee) puts the phone at the SOS Y/N prompt, and only the two right soft keys and the backspace key will cancel sending the SOS. Pressing either of the three left soft keys WILL send the SOS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ST Dog

000 is one of the emergency numbers supported by GSM phones.

That said it takes 5 presses total, as you still have to press the YES softkey.
And, all 5 presses have to be within the timeout (screen goes black again)
That's ~5 seconds on my phone. Any more than 5 seconds between presses and it starts all over.

01-09-2013, 03:08 PM

ST Dog

I expected that it would come out of airplane mode. Again, for unfamiliar users or in a panic.

The rest, well, the software could be better. I'd be curious to know what the design parameters were.

At the same time though it's not just this phone.
Only other phone I have handy is a CDMA Nokia 2285, with 3 emergency entries in the parameters 911, *911, and #911.

I'll check my old GSM phones when I get home. I suspect they have lots of emergency options and poorly done software.

01-09-2013, 04:39 PM

JIM3997

Quote:

Originally Posted by ST Dog

You can't manually lock the phone except on the home screen.
It will auto lock though. However, the emergency dial function works in that case (I just tested it).

Thanks for trying that, ST Dog. The only other thing I can think of is does the S390g have a setting where you enter the emergency number you want it to dial? I've seen that on some phones. If it has that setting you could put something else in there besides 911.

01-09-2013, 08:26 PM

ST Dog

Quote:

Originally Posted by JIM3997

The only other thing I can think of is does the S390g have a setting where you enter the emergency number you want it to dial?

Nope. TF could reprogram the phone, but none of the people we can reach know how.

Tried my V170 (flip phone) and it dials on 911, 112, and 08, which matches the numbers listed in the parameters. 08 is an odd one. But, the lock functions are quite different.

Can't find the T404G or LG500G right now to test.

01-10-2013, 07:31 PM

tfusr19

If I use the phone's email app to check my Yahoo email, and there are more than 10 email in my Yahoo inbox, the app only pulls down the latest 10, so there's no way for me to get the older ones with the app. Is there any way around this?

01-10-2013, 07:56 PM

ST Dog

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfusr19

If I use the phone's email app to check my Yahoo email, and there are more than 10 email in my Yahoo inbox, the app only pulls down the latest 10, so there's no way for me to get the older ones with the app. Is there any way around this?

If you tell it to Download again and it'll get the next 10.

01-10-2013, 08:02 PM

tfusr19

That's what I expected, but it says "No new email", and there is plenty of unread older email.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ST Dog

If you tell it to Download again and it'll get the next 10.

01-10-2013, 08:52 PM

ST Dog

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfusr19

That's what I expected, but it says "No new email", and there is plenty of unread older email.

I just double checked. 10, then 10 more, then 10 more. Several that were already marked as read on the server.

I just double checked. 10, then 10 more, then 10 more. Several that were already marked as read on the server.

Interestingly it did skip a few, even unread, messages.

(AT&T owned email address, which runs on yahoo servers now)

01-10-2013, 09:58 PM

ST Dog

POP. I don't have IMAP access (at least I didn't the last time I asked)

01-11-2013, 01:04 PM

tfusr19

POP is available on Yahoo email only if you pay for the Plus account. I can only do IMAP with my free account, so I'm not sure if that's it or what.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ST Dog

POP. I don't have IMAP access (at least I didn't the last time I asked)

01-11-2013, 02:11 PM

ST Dog

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfusr19

POP is available on Yahoo email only if you pay for the Plus account. I can only do IMAP with my free account, so I'm not sure if that's it or what.

Forgot about that. I pay for an account with AT&T, and they use Yahoo's servers.
So, I get POP but didn't have IMAP.

I haven't tried my @yahoo.com account (I seldom use it and messages are forwarded).
I might try IMAP with my AT&T account too...

01-11-2013, 02:16 PM

tfusr19

Quote:

Originally Posted by ST Dog

Forgot about that. I pay for an account with AT&T, and they use Yahoo's servers.......

For the price you pay, I think you can get more than just the 10 newest emails. Let me know what you find when you try IMAP. I'd also be curious to know what your yahoo.com account does vs mine.

01-11-2013, 08:49 PM

Steve Miscisin

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfusr19

If I use the phone's email app to check my Yahoo email, and there are more than 10 email in my Yahoo inbox, the app only pulls down the latest 10, so there's no way for me to get the older ones with the app. Is there any way around this?

I noticed a long time ago that I'm NOT able to download my yahoo mail over wifi. Just over the regular cell network. My gmail account, however, loads everything just fine over both the wifi and cell network. Have you ever experienced this too by any chance?

I thought maybe there could be some setting in the email client that I'm not aware of.

01-11-2013, 10:47 PM

tfusr19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Miscisin

I noticed a long time ago that I'm NOT able to download my yahoo mail over wifi. Just over the regular cell network. My gmail account, however, loads everything just fine over both the wifi and cell network. Have you ever experienced this too by any chance?

I thought maybe there could be some setting in the email client that I'm not aware of.

I have not tried checking google email with my S390G. Make sure you use IMAP4 to receive your yahoo.com email (google yahoo mobile email to get the settings). If it does not work via WiFi, but works via cell network, your WiFi router may be blocking some ports used by email - try opening up the router firewall or try from a public WiFi place.

01-11-2013, 11:13 PM

ST Dog

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Miscisin

I noticed a long time ago that I'm NOT able to download my yahoo mail over wifi. Just over the regular cell network.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_...d_SMTPs_access
"According to the Yahoo! company, IMAP access is only allowed for smartphones on mobile networks, not desktop computers. For regular internet users, an IMAP proxy like Yahoo IMAP Connector may be needed to connect to the Yahoo! IMAP servers. Alternatively, modifications are available for some email clients, such as Mozilla Thunderbird and Mutt. The proxy method is required to access Yahoo email through commercial email clients like Microsoft Outlook."

I guess the server detects that the connection is over the cell network and allows it.

01-12-2013, 10:16 AM

Songbill

I'm definitely not a computer person but since the S390G phone uses Java as its operating software, I'm concerned about the announcement made by the Government yesterday. (You can Google the phrase "Java threat" to find lots of postings on the matter yesterday and today.)

I sometimes use my S390G to connect to the Internet on WiFi via the wireless router that's hooked up to my home network. Does anybody know if the Java version on the S390G is the same Java for which this rather dire warning has been issued? I haven't used the browser in non-WiFi (phone) mode on my S390G to connect to the Internet (mostly to avoid using up minutes), but perhaps that could pose a potential threat to getting my e-mail or other accounts hacked as well. I just don't know. Is the Java version on the S390G phones small and different enough from the Java version on computers that this threat doesn't apply to the S390G??????? Does anybody have software knowledge about this matter to answer the question? (I've already disabled Java on my computers.)

01-12-2013, 11:45 AM

Yeswap

You are safe. The exploit you read about is with the Java Standard Edition plugin for PC browsers The Java in the S390G is Java Micro Edition. The S390G browser doesn't support plugins or running Java applets in the browser. Even if it did there's no Micro Edition browser plugin that it could use. The vulnerable classes and methods in the PC plugin don't exist anywhere in Micro Edition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Songbill

I'm definitely not a computer person but since the S390G phone uses Java as its operating software, I'm concerned about the announcement made by the Government yesterday. (You can Google the phrase "Java threat" to find lots of postings on the matter yesterday and today.)

I sometimes use my S390G to connect to the Internet on WiFi via the wireless router that's hooked up to my home network. Does anybody know if the Java version on the S390G is the same Java for which this rather dire warning has been issued? I haven't used the browser in non-WiFi (phone) mode on my S390G to connect to the Internet (mostly to avoid using up minutes), but perhaps that could pose a potential threat to getting my e-mail or other accounts hacked as well. I just don't know. Is the Java version on the S390G phones small and different enough from the Java version on computers that this threat doesn't apply to the S390G??????? Does anybody have software knowledge about this matter to answer the question? (I've already disabled Java on my computers.)

01-12-2013, 03:46 PM

Olde Hippie

When I first saw the s390g I naturally thought Blackberry wannabe. Sooo. . . I wondered how Blackberry dealt with pocket dialing problem and a quick Google search took me as far back as 2003 BB forum users seeking help with pocket dialing. The conversation has been fascinating here, all the key combinations that SOS and some very creative suggestions for workarounds. But in the end, I'm going to put up with the keylock option and memorize the unlock procedure so well that I can do it when stressed out in an emergency. What I'd really like to see is a slide out qwerty keyboard on an s390g, but I'm not ready to chuck my current phone for it.

Next on my list. Is there any way to block certain incoming call and/or text message numbers? It's about those pre-approved $5000 loans I keep getting offered. And much more.

tia - OH

01-12-2013, 06:35 PM

tfusr19

Steve Miscisin,
I'm not sure if I this was clear, but I can retrieve my @yahoo.com email using IMAP4 for the incoming server using both WiFi and cell network, so I would expect both to work for you.

@All,
What's the best way to backup contacts off the S390G?
Bluetooth seems to send one at a time. Is there a way besides copying all the contacts to the SIM card, taking the SIM card out, and using a SIM carder reader on my PC?

01-12-2013, 11:11 PM

ST Dog

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfusr19

@All,
What's the best way to backup contacts off the S390G?

Samsung's PC Studio. I posted a link to it in this thread a few months back.

Thanks a ton! I finally got it to download! Had the secure connection setting turned off when I noticed in the link you provided that yahoo requires it set at SSL. I definitely just knew it had to be something simple I was overlooking!

01-13-2013, 09:04 AM

Steve Miscisin

Quote:

Originally Posted by ST Dog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_...d_SMTPs_access
"According to the Yahoo! company, IMAP access is only allowed for smartphones on mobile networks, not desktop computers. For regular internet users, an IMAP proxy like Yahoo IMAP Connector may be needed to connect to the Yahoo! IMAP servers. Alternatively, modifications are available for some email clients, such as Mozilla Thunderbird and Mutt. The proxy method is required to access Yahoo email through commercial email clients like Microsoft Outlook."

I guess the server detects that the connection is over the cell network and allows it.

Thanks for your help too ST

01-13-2013, 09:27 AM

Steve Miscisin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Olde Hippie

When I first saw the s390g I naturally thought Blackberry wannabe. Sooo. . . I wondered how Blackberry dealt with pocket dialing problem and a quick Google search took me as far back as 2003 BB forum users seeking help with pocket dialing. The conversation has been fascinating here, all the key combinations that SOS and some very creative suggestions for workarounds. But in the end, I'm going to put up with the keylock option and memorize the unlock procedure so well that I can do it when stressed out in an emergency. What I'd really like to see is a slide out qwerty keyboard on an s390g, but I'm not ready to chuck my current phone for it.

Next on my list. Is there any way to block certain incoming call and/or text message numbers? It's about those pre-approved $5000 loans I keep getting offered. And much more.

tia - OH

The closest thing I've seen to a slide out qwerty version of the S390G is the Samsung S425G. I ordered that phone from ShopCellDeals on Amazon a couple months ago as a back up. I activated it once with the free 20 mins upon activation just to play with it, and found the quality of the phone itself to be great in my opinion. I've since ordered a new sim, and am still just keeping the phone as a back up that I can activate on the fly when needed (I've dropped a couple phones in the toilet in my day :crying: )

The ONLY thing I don't like about the S425G is there's no WIFI. Other than that, I'm almost certain that all of the other specs and features, including the screen size are exactly the same.

Just thought I'd FYI that to ya after I read your post just now, since I've always been a fan of the slide out qwerty phones myself. The blackberry style of the S390G is definitely ok as well in my opinion,
but if you're looking for a phone that would probably solve any pocket dialing issues, I would take a peek at the S425, if of course you haven't seen it already!

Oh, and I forgot. There's also multy tasking tool on the S425 that the S390 doesn't have

01-13-2013, 11:29 AM

annepani

Quote:

Originally Posted by Olde Hippie

What I'd really like to see is a slide out qwerty keyboard on an s390g, but I'm not ready to chuck my current phone for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Miscisin

The closest thing I've seen to a slide out qwerty version of the S390G is the Samsung S425G. I activated it once with the free 20 mins upon activation just to play with it, and found the quality of the phone itself to be great in my opinion.The ONLY thing I don't like about the S425G is there's no WIFI. I've always been a fan of the slide out qwerty phones myself (and the S425) would probably solve any pocket dialing issues. There's also multitasking tool on the S425 that the S390 doesn't have.

I have the S425 and briefly had the S390. I sent the S390 back. I much prefer the S425 which I have had for about 7 months now. I too am a fan of slider/qwerty phones. If you haven't already, I would highly recommend that you look into the S425.

I also have the LG 840 for Tracfone WiFi needs. It is not activated but I keep it for when something comes up that I want to check out.

01-13-2013, 05:39 PM

tfusr19

Quote:

Originally Posted by ST Dog

Samsung's PC Studio. I posted a link to it in this thread a few months back.

ST Dog,
Thanks! I was hoping to find a way to do it without PC Stdio?.

That app takes up a log of disk space (>300MB IIRC) and stopped working on my PC for some reason - I 'll have to reinstall it sometime.

01-13-2013, 06:01 PM

ST Dog

300MB isn't much space these days, and remember it supports most Samsung phones, not just a few.

If you have the right contact software it can better handle the way Samsung send multiple contacts.
The built in stuff in WindowsXP popped up a separate dialog for each contact. Also not all the info was saved.

Maybe something that can poll the phone and get them all like some vehicle systems do?

I really haven't looked into it much. I keep all (most) my contacts backed up on another phone.

That may be the easiest too. Get another phone for $20-30, copy all the contact to it, then pull the battery and store it safely. You just fire it up to recover later if you need to.